Map of Crete

Geography of Crete

The total area of Crete is είναι 8.336 sq.Km. (6,3% of the total area of the Greek territory). It is located at southern edge of the Aegean Sea, at a distance of about 160 sq.Km. from the mainland. It has a remarkable coastline of more than 1000 Km. It is bordered by the Cretan Sea to the north and the Lybian Sea to the South. It is surrounded by a number of small islands (Gavdow, Gavdopoula, Chrysi, Koufonisi, Dia, Dyonisades etc.). The length of the island from one edge (west) to the other (east) is 256 Km. Its largest width of 57 Km is located in the Perfecture of Heraklion and the smallest width of 12 Km in the Prefecture of Lasithi. Its morphology includes three zones, the mountainous zone, with an altitude of 400m and above, the semi mountainous zone with 200-400m and the level area with up to 200 m from sea level. The first two zones cover about 3/5 of the island. The percentage of mountainous area is 49%. The predominant mountain ranges are the Lefka Ori (2.452m), Philoritis (2.456m) and Dikti (2148m).